Taming Eric

by J. a Melville

  He felt the bile rising in the back of his throat when he saw his wife, his beautiful wife looking broken near the bottom of the stairs. He needed to get her help but right now he needed to get his housekeeper help more. God she was so still he wasn’t sure if she was even alive. Her skin was beyond pale, she looked grey.

  He bent down to touch his fingers to Alice’s neck and after feeling around on her, he finally found a faint pulse. He pulled his phone from his pocket and dialled triple zero. He explained the situation briefly, ordered that they send an ambulance and after gave the address. He said he needed the police too explained quickly what had happened and the policeman he spoke to said they’d go straight around to Vivian’s house to arrest her. They wanted to come and speak to Natasha but he had to explain what was going on with her and that it was going to have to wait. Once the calls were taken care of he hastily got off the phone.

  Eric heard Natasha sob and he hurried over to her, dropping down on his knees by her side. He could see something about her arm didn’t look right and one leg was broken. As he stared at her in shock she cried out, her body going rigid and his heart pounded with fear at the distress and pain in her cry.

  “The babies are coming.” She gasped before she grunted and Eric realised she was pushing, her face contorted with pain and her teeth gritted.

  “Fuck baby, what the hell happened? God, Alice, your leg, fuck, what’s happening? Shit you’re having the babies. You can’t have them here. I’m calling your doctor.” He immediately phoned her doctor and fortunately got him straight away. He quickly explained the situation and he assured Eric he was on his way.

  Once he was off the phone he stared down at Natasha in a daze. He needed to do something for her, but he didn’t know what. He was scared to touch her in case he hurt her. She was sweating heavily, her hair sticking to her face and she was in pain but he didn’t know what to do for her.

  “Eric, have a look. I think there’s a baby about to be born.” Natasha gasped and his dazed expression shifted to her again.

  “What?” He tried to focus on what she’d said but he was still in shock at the scene before him.

  “Eric, snap out of it. Have a look, I need you to look and tell me if you can see a baby coming. Please Eric.” She grabbed his hand.

  He still looked dazed. “What the fuck happened here? Did Vivian do this? I’ll fucking kill the bitch. Where the fuck is she now?” He suddenly exploded with rage at what had happened to Natasha and Alice.

  “ERIC.” She screamed at him and her fingernails dug into his hand. His eyes met hers as her face contorted through another contraction and she cried out as she pushed hard.

  He forced his attention on her again and finally worked out that she wanted him to have a look to see if the babies were coming. He shifted down between her legs, skirting around the pool of fluid on the floor under her and lifted her dress to have a look between her spread legs.

  When he saw some dark hair and the curve of a little skull showing between the stretched and parted folds of Natasha’s pussy he felt a wave of nausea. She wasn’t supposed to have dark hair and a skull showing there so fucking hell, this was it, shit, shit, she was having the babies. “Oh fuck, I can see the baby’s head.” He squeezed out through a mouth that was suddenly dry.

  She started to push again, her moans building up to a yell and Eric panicked, moving back until he was by her side again. He didn’t know what to do for her, he wasn’t a fucking doctor. Was she ok? “Of course she’s not ok you stupid fool.” The voice inside him snapped.

  “Fuck baby, my poor baby. God I’m going to kill her. Look at you, what she’s done to you. I’m sorry, god I’m so sorry.” He said huskily feeling overcome with emotion at the state his wife was in, what she’d endured and still had to endure as she struggled to bring their babies into the world. Where the fuck was that ambulance?

  “Look again Eric, I need you to stay down there and tell me what you see, I need to know. This is so hard, I’m so tired. I just want them out but I don’t know if they’re even alive.” Her voice cracked and Eric could see tears welling in her eyes and his chest tightened when he saw the pain and fear on her face.

  He realised he could hear the sound of an approaching siren. Thank fuck for that, the ambulance was coming. “Well baby, I can hear a siren, the ambulance is coming.” His voice reflected the relief that swamped him at that sound. “I want to know what that bitch did to you, to poor Alice. Alice looks bad baby, so bad.”

  “Eric, for fuck sakes, focus dammit. I need you to help me. I can’t do this alone. You’re supposed to help me for this bit and my Mum was supposed to be at the birth but that’s all shot to hell now.” She started sobbing and he looked down at her helplessly. What the hell was wrong with him? He couldn’t seem to focus. He didn’t know what to do to help her. He was so scared and confused and he wasn’t used to being in a situation he couldn’t control.

  The sound of her sobs tore at his heart and he bent to kiss her gently, almost afraid to touch her in case he hurt her. “The ambulance is here baby, hang on, I have to let them in.” He climbed to his feet and rushed to the door, being careful not to risk slipping over in the pool of blood around Alice.

  The next few minutes were frantic with the paramedics tending to Alice. They took her vitals and lifted her onto a stretcher with an oxygen mask over her as they carried her outside to the ambulance.

  “Is she going to be ok?” Natasha asked but the paramedics wouldn’t commit either way, just saying it was too soon to tell and they needed to get her to hospital.

  Eric rushed to her side again when she cried out and he could hear her grunting and groaning as she pushed. She reached out and grabbed his wrist, hanging on to him so tightly her nails cut into his arm drawing blood. He winced at the pain as he stared down at her wondering what the hell to do for her. Was it supposed to take this long to have the babies? Was she ok? What if they were stuck and she couldn’t deliver them? What the hell did he do now?

  “Baby I’m sorry I did this to you, god I’m so sorry.” He felt guilt for that forgotten condom flood him. If he hadn’t forgotten it she wouldn’t be where she was now. This was all his fault dammit. He was distracted from his thoughts when she dug her nails into his arm again making him flinch.

  “Fuck Eric, shut the fuck up about this. Talk later, I want these babies out of me and I want them out NOW!” She screamed at him, her eyes wild and flashing with anger as she glared at him. He recoiled in horror at her reaction and he felt quite hurt by the strength of the anger she was directing at him. She was seriously pissed off with him and he didn’t understand why. He wasn’t used to her yelling and screaming at him the way she was and it hurt, it really hurt.

  As he sat back on his heels feeling sorry for himself the paramedics came back in accompanied by Natasha’s doctor and Eric climbed hastily to his feet and rushed over to him. “Thank god Doctor, you have to do something. We need to get her to hospital, she’s having the babies.”

  The doctor went over and knelt down between Natasha’s legs, his hands reaching under her clothing to do something, although what Eric had no idea. What the hell was he doing? They needed to get her out to the ambulance.

  When the doctor rose to his feet and came back over to where Eric and the paramedics waited Eric stared at the doctor like he’d lost his mind when he told them they could go.

  “What the fuck? My wife needs to be in the ambulance too. Can’t you see she’s having the babies? What the fuck are you talking about? She can’t be left here. Look at her. Apart from being in labour, she’s got a fucking broken leg and something’s wrong with her arm. What is wrong with you? Get her to the fucking hospital now.” Eric had progressively got closer to the doctor until he was screaming right in the other man’s face.

  “I’m sorry Mr Rothman but Mrs Rothman can’t be moved now. It’s too late. She’s going to have to give birth to
these babies here. All we can do is make her as comfortable as possible.”

  Was the doctor nuts? Make her comfortable? How the fuck could they make her comfortable? She was in labour, lying on the bottom couple of stairs with a broken leg and what looked like a dislocated shoulder and this man was saying they had to make her comfortable.

  This was not going the way Eric had anticipated and he growled with frustration. “Make her comfortable for fuck sakes. She’s got a fucking broken leg. Look at her, the bone is hanging out of her leg.” He raked his hands through his hair. Everything was spiralling out of control.

  “The best that I can do is wrap her leg for now, but like it or not Mr Rothman, these babies are coming now. You could bring your wife a pillow for her head please.” He looked up from his position between Natasha’s legs and Eric snorted with frustration, before storming off upstairs, cursing the stupidity of the doctor and what fucking good was a pillow going to be? Once he’d grabbed a pillow and run back downstairs, he eased it under Natasha’s head, his heart contracting when she groaned in pain. “I’m sorry baby.” He felt bad that he’d hurt her.

  She started to groan as another contraction hit and Eric sat by her side on the stairs feeling completely helpless. He just didn’t know what to do for her. He did look at her in astonishment when she started yelling at the doctor and cursing at him but he had told her not to push and obviously she wasn’t happy with that request.

  The doctor explained that the baby’s head was almost out and he needed to ease it out slowly so she didn’t tear.

  “I want my baby out dammit. Fuck.” She yelled and began panting as she tried to stop herself from pushing.

  “Listen to the doctor baby, you have to stop pushing.” Eric tried to help her with words of encouragement.

  “Shut the fuck up!” She screamed at him and her recoiled from her, pain lancing through him at her words but the doctor simply chuckled.

  “It’s quite normal for the woman to become quite abusive while giving birth Mr Rothman. Try not to take it personally. They turn into Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde I’m afraid.”

  Natasha snapped her teeth together at his words and Eric’s look was doubtful when he glanced at the doctor. He wasn’t used to her abusing him like that and despite the doctor trying to assure him that it was quite normal behaviour for a woman during labour, it still hurt him to hear her speak to him like that.

  Eric sat quietly after that, not game to say anything more to Natasha in case she verbally ripped his head off again and he breathed a sigh of relief when the doctor finally told her she could push. “Oh god, I’m going to shit myself.” She groaned as she pushed hard, her face red with the effort it was taking her and he stared at her hating to see her in so much pain and unable to help her.

  “Don’t worry about that Mrs Rothman. Many women void their bowels or urinate giving birth. Please don’t let that embarrass you. Just focus on getting these two babies out, ok?”

  The doctor was doing something between his wife’s legs and Eric had no idea what but he wasn’t going to move to find out since he was wary of Natasha’s temper.

  “Please is my baby ok? Can you tell if he or she is ok?” Natasha gasped but the doctor didn’t answer her.

  “I need you to give me one big push now Mrs Rothman, ok?” He said and Eric watched her push again, her face contorted as she put everything she could into it. He wanted to do something for her but there was nothing he could do but sit by her side and watch her and the doctor working together to bring the twins into the world.

  Finally he took her hand carefully to try and give her some encouragement. “Come on baby, you’re doing really well. Push baby, push.” She dug her fingers into his hand as she strained with gritted teeth, pushing as hard as she could and with a rush of fluids their first child finally slipped from her body into the arms of the doctor and Natasha tried to sit up to see their baby.

  “Please, is my baby ok? Is it a boy or girl?” She had a desperate look in her eyes and Eric’s attention moved down to where the doctor was clamping off the umbilical cord of their son.

  Eric grinned. “You did it baby, it’s our son.” He said, so relieved to see Nathaniel delivered and moving in the doctor’s arms as he lifted him and placed him over Natasha’s chest so she could see him. Her good arm closed around him and the image of her lying there with her child on her brought a prick of tears to Eric’s eyes.

  She was happy to have her son but the image was all wrong. She should have been lying comfortably in a hospital bed, not broken and hurt on a flight of stairs. As he watched her with their son her face crumbled and she began to sob.

  Eric felt his stomach clench at the sight of her with tears running down her face and soaking into her sweat dampened hair. She looked up at him and gave him a dazzling smile despite her tears. His heart skipped a beat at her expression. How could she look so happy when she was hurt and in so much pain? He simply stared at her, in awe of her for what she had been through and what she still had to go through and yet she was smiling with so much joy and love in her expression that he had to fight hard not to start crying himself.

  “Isn’t he amazing baby? We made him. From our passion our love, we produced him.” Eric said as he reached out to touch his son’s tiny hand. “He’s perfect baby. You did so well. God your beauty, your strength. You leave me breathless sweetheart. I love you so much baby and I’m sorry that I left you vulnerable to that bitch.”

  “Eric please, don’t blame yourself. I let her into our home. She seemed so nice, well, nice for her, probably too nice really. I knew you know? I knew something seemed off but I just pushed it away, so I’m to blame, not you. I shouldn’t have let her into our home. Can you believe she even brought a gift?”

  The tears that pricked at the back of his eyes filled them at her words. “Baby, I love you and I won’t rest until that woman pays for what she’s put you and Alice through. The police are looking for her now.”

  “She told me she was flying out of the country Eric. I don’t know if that was true but she was going to New York.”

  “I’ll let the police know baby, but lets concentrate on getting you to hospital.”

  The doctor interrupted them saying quietly. “I’m sorry Mr Rothman but she’s not going anywhere yet, you still have another child to be born.”

  Eric felt his anger rising again. Was the doctor serious? “Can’t she have our daughter at the hospital? Are you kidding me? My wife has to lie here in pain until she delivers our next child?” He snapped but his eyes shifted back to Natasha when she suddenly cried out and as he watched a gush of fluid flowed from her and over the stairs. Shit!

  “Here comes your daughter Mr Rothman. I understand you’re concerned about your wife, but we can’t move her when she’s delivering. She’s doing fine under the circumstances. I suggest you take your son off her though, she’s going to need to focus on pushing this little one out.”

  Eric reached down and took Nathaniel in his arms but he stayed sitting next to Natasha while she delivered their daughter.

  After about half an hour Erica made her way into the world. She was slightly smaller than her brother and with a lot more hair than him in a colour similar to her mother’s. The doctor placed her over Natasha’s chest so she could spend a few moments bonding with her daughter.

  He positioned Nathaniel back over her chest too so she could bond with them both and she held them awkwardly with her good arm. She asked him to go upstairs and bring nappies and blankets for their babies. That was something he could do and he ran up to get what she wanted. He’d felt so useless with all that had happened. He’d hated seeing Natasha in so much pain and not being able to help her.

  The birth of their children was supposed to be a time of joy for them but it had turned into a nightmare and with Alice seriously injured. They still didn’t know if she was going to be ok and Natasha had suffered horribly bec
ause of Vivian and Eric ground his teeth with the wave of rage that consumed him. She had better hoped the police got to her first because if he got anywhere near her, he’d kill her.

  When he got back downstairs Natasha guided him on what to do as he put nappies on the twins and wrapped them both in blankets. He grinned at her, proud of himself for managing to do it but as he looked into his wife’s eyes, he could see something was wrong. Her eyes were filled with pain and as she met his gaze, he saw hers become unfocused.

  “Natasha.” He called to her, fear causing his stomach to tighten. The doctor turned to her but as they both watched, her eyes rolled back in her head and she fainted.

  “What’s wrong with her? Do something.” Eric shouted but the doctor didn’t say anything just started examining her. He reached into his pocket and called for an ambulance and Eric felt relief that she was finally going to hospital but fear that there was something going on that the doctor wasn’t telling him about. “Please doctor, is she ok?”

  “She’s ok Mr Rothman. Her pulse is strong. She’s just exhausted and my guess is now she’s delivered these babies her body is shutting down. Shock is setting in now. She’s been through a lot after all. The fall, her dislocated shoulder, broken leg and then she’s had to deliver twins on top of all that. Your wife is a very strong woman but she needs to go to hospital now so she can be treated for her injuries.”

  Eric took her hand in his. It was cold to touch and he couldn’t contain the fear he felt. “Please be ok baby. Please be ok. I can’t lose you baby. You’re my world, my very reason to exist. I love you sweetheart. God I love you so fucking much. Hang in there baby, please.” He raised her hand to his lips and kissed her palm. “You’re a mother now and the twins need you.” He kissed her again.

  Suddenly he remembered Natasha’s mother. “Fuck, I have to call her.” He mumbled under his breath. She had no idea what had happened to her daughter. He had to call her now and he pulled his phone out of his pocket and quickly dialled Kathryn’s number. It went to voice mail so he had no choice but to leave a message for her. He was reluctant to give too much detail over the phone though so he just asked that she call him as soon as she could.